PUDUCHERRY: Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan did not use the term 'Ondriya Arasu' (Union government) while administering the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers on June 27, according to a clarification issued by Raj Nivas on Tuesday.
The term evoked controversy after the DMK government in Tamil Nadu used it instead of 'Mathiya Arasu' (central govt) to refer to the Centre. In this context, after the swearing-in ceremony, the Lt Governor was trolled on social media for using the term "Ondriya Arasu".
Raj Nivas clarified that the oath of office was administered in Tamil without any change in the pledge traditionally used by the government of Puducherry for many years.
It was further clarified that as ministers took oath in Tamil and it was mentioned as "India Ontriya Puducherry Atchipparappu (Indian Union Territory of Puducherry)", with "Ontriya" being mentioned to refer to the Union Territory of Puducherry. It is called the "Indian Union Territory" because it was under French rule and later merged with Indian Union.